The Gujarat high court has asked the state government to respond as to why pilgrimage places of all religions are not included under the Gujarat Pavitra Yatradham Board. A bench headed by acting chief justice Anant Dave has also directed the state to place before it an all inclusive new list of pilgrimage places of all religions by June 14.
The court while directing the state to file its reply made an oral observation that the government should include pilgrim places of all religions under the board.
It also wanted to know why were pilgrimage sites from only one particular religion being considered for development under the board and has asked it to file an affidavit in this connection too.
The court's order came in connection with a public interest litigation (PIL) that accused the state government of religious biases and promoting only Hindu temples in the state, while ignoring the shrines of other religions.
The petition filed by one Mujahid Nafees through his advocate KR Koshti had said that though the state had formed the Gujarat Pavitra Yatradham Board in July 1995 to promote and develop the religious sites in the state it had only religious shrine from Hinduism and no other religion under it.
It argued that the number of sacred religious shrines that was being taken care of by the board rose to 358 across the state, none of it included those from religions other than Hinduism. Calling the boards functioning a violation of rights granted under the Indian Constitution, it stated that selecting only shrines of a particular religion for its promotion was arbitrary, unconstitutional, and leads to discrimination.
The PIL had argued that since the state is a secular entity it is not expected to promote religious sites of only one particular community or religion. It further argued that since it was the tax payers money that was being spent on such shrines, the spending can't be limited to one religion.